HONOLULU — It was a valiant effort, but Hawai’i Hilo Baseball fell to Division-I UH Manoa, 9-8, in 10 innings Tuesday evening at Les Murakami Stadium.
Similar to earlier this month when the Vulcans got back-to-back walk-off victories over Azusa Pacific, UH Manoa got its turn at having bizarre consecutive walk-off finishes. The Rainbow Warriors managed to snatch the win with a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 10th for their sixth walk-off of the season. Monday night, UH Manoa defeated UC Davis with a walk-off balk in 13 innings. On March 6, the Vulcans drew a bases-loaded walk-off walk in the bottom of the 10th before getting a walk-off balk the following day in the bottom of the ninth.
Hawai’i Hilo totaled 12 hits, reaching double-digit figures for only the ninth time this season. Vance Oshiro (one RBI) and Kalei Alana each notched three hits as Mark Fedro collected two hits and two RBI. Fedro sparked an eighth-inning rally with a RBI base hit followed by a RBI fielder’s choice grounder by Arthur Soto. Alana got a base knock down the left-field line to move Soto into scoring position as Oshiro drove him home for the go-ahead run at 8-7.
UH Manoa’s Kamana Nahaku managed a high-crawling infield chopper off the Les Murakami Stadium artificial turf to bring across the game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth. A steal and a throwing error put the game-winning run 90 feet away from the plate, but Vulcans freshman closer Xavier Pressley entered into the game to retire the side looking on strike three.
In the bottom of the 10th, UHM was seemingly keen on not letting the game go any longer as it subbed in a handful of regular starters to pinch hit. All three base runners were given free passes to first base to juice the bases before Itsuki Takemoto managed to draw a full-count walk for the walk-off win.
Both teams combined to use 16 pitchers with 30 total players from both sides seeing action on the diamond.
Hawai’i Hilo moved to 6-20 overall as UH Manoa moved to an 18-5 record. The two teams have met up eight times since 2020 — all victories by the Rainbow Warriors — with three of those contests ending in walk-off fashion.
Up next: 2 p.m. Sunday vs. Chaminade (Hilo/James “Jimmy” Correa Ballfield at Francis Wong Stadium)
